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an online social media community news service delivering news and views on Mindanao's business & politics Tue, 21 Aug 2018 08:07:05 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s0.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngRural Urban Newshttps://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com
No barangay election again this coming Oct. 2017 due to narco politicians’ threat- DUTERTEhttps://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/no-barangay-election-again-this-coming-oct-2017-due-to-narco-politicians-threat-duterte/
https://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/no-barangay-election-again-this-coming-oct-2017-due-to-narco-politicians-threat-duterte/#respondMon, 13 Mar 2017 10:21:15 +0000http://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/?p=2614President Rodrigo Duterte bared his position again on the coming barangay election this October 2017, saying “I don’t know if we have still election” after it was postponed last year.

He said this during the joint press conference with him, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and House Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez in Malacañang Palace late afternoon Monday.

He reasoned out that if there would be barangay election, “narco politicians will prevail, then you have narco public officials who will run the government and control the drugs.”

“I have to satisfy myself first na no narco politics na,” he said, adding that narco top personalities had penetrated the government about six years ago. He named imprisoned Senator Leila De Lima as No. 1 per tag of Speaker Alvarez.

Before Malacanang reporters, Duterte opened the joint presscon, first giving his categorical support to Environment Secretary Gina Lopez. He rapped his finger at the paper sheets in his hand containing photos and data showing the environmental destruction wrought by several blacklisted mining firms.

He said he goes for mining ban, which he could not yet say on specifics.

The President renewed his warning that “mining lobby money is coming in.”

He said that with the mining lobby money and the drug money, “binabaliktad nila,” obviously referring to his oppositionists and apparently including their media outlets and media friends engaging alleged destabilization against his administration.

In the joint presscon, both Pimentel and Alvarez pledged their “solid support” to the President’s campaigns against drugs and corruption and for clean environment. (Rural Urban News/Cha Monforte)

Dissecting the real Duterte is best these days as he opened his mind on:

* the history of Moro people particularly starting on the Bud Dajo massacre,

*on the wrong ways of United States in oppressing Muslim countries like how the US toppled President Saddam Hussein and left Iraq destroyed, in shambles until now,

*on the continuing armed resistance of Moro people to US forces since the mass slaughter of his Moro ancestors by the US imperialist forces as vividly portrayed in the photo he is waiving during his speaking engagement these days, and the need of US special forces now to move out from Mindanao,

*on understanding MNLF and Misuari and the MILF and the BBL while ISIS is trying to start influencing younger Muslim generation now in Mindanao,

*on his critique to intelligent anchors of ANC and how they can’t rightly seize his media statements on right context, on questioning the media in Imperial Manila and even the domination of Manila to the nation on the context of his quote of not easily believing on “taga Manila” as he spoke in Davao City.

From these, President Duterte doesn’t fit in the mold of our past 13 Presidents- Aguinaldo (1899), Quezon, Osmeña. Roxas, Quirino, Magsaysay, Garcia, Macapagal, Marcos, Ramos, Estrada, GMA and PNoy, and vis-a-vis them, it’s only PDuterte who belabored about Bud Dajo treating it as not a long-lost subject of yesteryears but a current one.

Among our presidents, it’s only him who talks about the country from the vantage point of being Mindanaon.

When Pres. Duterte speaks of these, he is actually engaged in de-colonizing Filipinos from the usual nationhood concept romancing on the primacy of Manila that our past presidents paid obeisance to.

Pres. Duterte is finally de-Manilanizing the Philippines by just being assertive and true Mindanaon President.

A Mindanaon President is finally here and he towers to be such all over the nation from his actual base, Mindanao, and sorry Imperial Manila he is here to stay as a reality for a change.

A Davao City councilor hooted and mocked solicitations of people asking for help from elected officials as a pestering burden to bear with by incumbent politicians like the councilors who gathered in a three-day seminar that ended over the weekend in a posh seaside hotel in Davao City.

Meanwhile, as this happened, the Sangguniang Bayan of the municipality of Ninoy Aquino in Sultan Kudarat has been preoccupied in formulating an ordinance regulating solicitations from begging people to public officials.

Davao City Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang spoke Friday before over 300 councilors from various parts of the country and told them that if they could not take the burden of meeting various solicitations from people easily they would die of bitterness while serving their term of office.

As a resource person, Dayanghirang talked first on the brand of leadership of President Duterte as one that is “fast, inclusive and moving up forward”, then past the middle of his talk he shifted sharing about the pangs and pain of encountering varying solicitations from begging constituents.

He said he could have died easily in meeting many solicitations and other difficulties in being a politician while salaries of councilors are fixed and low had he not married a physician.

He said that nowadays councilors have salaries ranging from P30,000 to P60,000, but at these salary levels and considering the deductions, it would already be hard for them to part money daily for the solicitations.

He complained that there are solicitations which ask for definite amount, such as those for student yearbook where the minimum amount that is solicited is P500.

Dayanghirang said that what he is doing for this is to return the solicitation letter to the solicitor and he gives P200 only. But he added giving P200 multiplied by 10 solicitors of the same kind could hit them hard even.

He shuddered over the thought that in some cases solicitors would bring solicitation letters with blank addressee and “infront of you they would ask what’s your name then they write and give the letter to you”.

As Dayanghirang was about to end, he also mocked the “AC-DC” (Attack and Collect, Defend and Collect) mediamen as also another individuals who come to pester them.

He gave then an advice that like a councilor in Quezon City who gave AC-DCs money worth for a bottle of Tanduay, he gave AC-DCs in Davao City money worth for a bottle of “Empe” for Emperador, which ironically is a little higher in price than Tanduay.

But several blocktimer broadcasters and self-financing mediamen who were around buzzed, saying that on the contrary Dayanghirang is “laaw”, a local media term for an allegedly selfish no-giver politician.

He is described as evasively non-media patron politician, a type “who would immediately run as soon as the face of a poor man mediaman appears to his office at the SP building.”

However, councilors serving under an understanding chief executive enjoyed having funds for solicitations out from the latter’s magnanimity of sharing his intelligence fund to brother politicians, like the members of a municipal council or a provincial board in Davao Region who enjoyed P10,000 and P20,000 each monthly, respectively, during their last term.

That is besides when they dipped their fingers on their gasoline allocations, and in their small priority development projects under sort of local pork barrel identified in the annual investment plan of the local government unit, according to highly placed sources.

Dayanghirang told though his fellow councilors that the challenge is “how to navigate in this very unique life of a politician to be able to survive.”

It is quite a public knowledge that solicitators among poor constituents ask for donations and monetary help and assistance from elected public officials out of reasons ranging from birth to burial.

But for the indigenous people representative Sultan Rey Dakias of the Ninoy Aquino town in Sultan Kudarat he sees solicitations as “not a burden, but just normal and part of being in public service.”

He added he has a net salary of P49,000 and he said he does not quiver over parting 10 percent of his salary or about P5,000 or even P10,000 monthly for solicitations.

But for Ninoy Aquino town first-termer Vice Mayor Rafael George Flauta III, “solicitations need to be regulated by the government.”

He said that while giving for solicitations is an act of social responsibility, there is a “need to balance” and “not to be excessive in soliciting”.

“There should be no forceful solicitation and there should be consent on our part. In solicitation that fixes an amount, it should be open for bargaining,” he added.

Flauta said that the proposed measure regulating solicitation has already passed the first reading.

He was a councilor for two terms and won for his first term as vice mayor last May election.

The councilors trooped for three-day seminar under the the auspices of the Philippine Councilors League Legislative Academy (PCL-LA) at Waterfront Insular Hotel in Davao City. It ended Saturday, July 30, today. (Rural Urban News/Cha Monforte)

]]>https://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/2016/08/12/davao-city-councilor-mocks-solicitations-pestering-politicians-as-soli-regulation-ordinance-is-pushed/feed/0ruralurbanewssultan kudPhilippine councilors take first post-election respite in PCL seminar by the sea in Duterte countryhttps://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/2016/07/30/philippine-councilors-take-first-post-election-respite-in-pcl-seminar-by-the-sea-in-duterte-country/
https://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/2016/07/30/philippine-councilors-take-first-post-election-respite-in-pcl-seminar-by-the-sea-in-duterte-country/#respondSat, 30 Jul 2016 03:39:47 +0000http://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/?p=2548More than 300 Philippine councilors, battle-tired after the last May election, practically went unwinding and relaxing themselves in premier hotel by the sea in Davao City while earning educational units as they took part in a seminar under a ladderized curriculum offered by their own national training organization.

Councilors from different parts of the country took part in three-day lecture-discussion of Philippine Councilors League Legislative Academy (PCL-LA) at the posh Waterfront Insular Hotel in Davao City which ended Saturday, July 30, today.

Each day, the seminar began at 9 A.M. and ended 4 P.M. so they could have time to unwind in the hotel’s beach, swimming pool and facilities or go outside to shop and enjoy in the city’s malls and R & R facilities.

“We’re are still in the period of first 100 honeymoon days, and during this time new councilors are being oriented on their functions and tasks while old councilors who were reelected have already adjusted in their respective local government systems,” said PCL-LA Chairman Atty. Oliver Owen Garcia of Valencia City, Bukidnon.

The training-seminar was entitled Lecture-Discussion with focus on the power of the local sanggunian, the roles of parliamentary procedure, important decided cases in local governance, and quasi-judicial functions of the local legislative body.

The seminar gives councilors and other public officials like mayors, vice mayors, barangay officials and those in the higher ups corresponding units for baccalaureate, masters and doctorate studies.

Atty. Garcia reported that the PCL-LA for the past six years since its start of operation in 2011 has produced a total of 2,689 graduates, 102 of whom have earned a title of Doctor of Public Administration (DPA), 1,396 as Master of Public Administration (MPA) and college degree of 1,181 Bachelor of Public Administration.

Officials in Makati topped in getting master degrees with 417 graduates, followed by 389 graduates from Davao Region. Moreover, for doctorate studies, 57 graduates came from Manila while 45 graduates from Davao Region who included Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte.

Elected officials especially those who have not graduated in college have now the chance to finally graduate by attending PCL-LA’s unit-earning seminars during their elective term.

Those who want to earn their masters and doctorate degrees have to pass in the final requirements of policy paper and dissertation, respectively.

“The PCL-LA has linked with some academic institutions in customizing a curriculum with infusion of theoretical framework into practical application or actual life experience of public officials,” Garcia told participants.

“Some of our graduates have already presented their policy papers and thesis to local and international conferences. These papers are now the basis for governance reforms. Sometimes, Congress requested their papers for benchmarking during committee hearings,” he added.

Garcia also bared that besides these PCL-LA has recently launched a foreign study program for councilors and other elected officials for which the first batch went to Thailand and the second batch to Singapore.

PCL-LA is a brainchild of Philippine Councilors League and its own charter was approved on June 10, 2010. (Rural Urban News/Cha Monforte)

About 70 percent of the current inmates in the Davao del Norte provincial jail have been incarcerated connected to illegal drugs.

Assistant provincial jail warden Marilyn Erolon said in an interview Thursday that she observed that gone are the days when the provincial jail was populated by inmates who committed holdups, robberies and crimes against properties.

“At present, we have total of 162 inmates, 153 are male and 9 are female. About 70 percent of them have been imprisoned due to illegal drugs,” she said.

She said that “drug-connected” inmates have varying cases, adding that from some confessions inside the jail said that inmates facing the crime of rape had committed the crime because they were high on shabu drug.

She said that when she said illegal drug it is meant to be shabu as inmates jailed due to marijuana was no longer in vogue unlike in the past.

“It’s shabu now,” Erolon said, shaking her head to gesture how shabu has spread unabated throughout the country since the early 90s and on the unexpected biggest magnitude and scale of the drug problem that the Duterte administration only exposed in its current war against drugs.

She gave a high thumb-up to the total war against drugs of President Duterte, saying that “he is really God-sent for in the next ten years without him as our President many Filipinos we would become zombies.”

“We won’t know that whom we are facing on the streets are zombies,” she added.

Erolon has been serving the provincial jail as province-paid employee for 28 years now.

The inmates in Davao del Norte provincial jail came from the province’s towns of New Corella, Kapalong, Talaingod and Asuncion, which all have only small municipal-level jails.

Other jails in the province can afford to hold or not to remand their inmates to the provincial jail as they have bigger, district-capacity jails.

These are the Panabo District Jail, Samal District Jail and Tagum City Jail. The Panabo District Jail also accommodates inmates from the towns of Sto. Tomas and BE Dujali.

Last Oct. 3, 2012, the provincial government and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) forged a memorandum of agreement making the latter as the management of the jail and putting the 13 province-paid employees under its supervision.

BJMP augmented the provincial jail with a deployment of its own 20 jail officers.

But the adjacent provincial jail of Compostela Valley has more than 600 inmates under the watch of the security personnel of its provincial government.

Since the separation of the Compostela Valley from the erstwhile bigger

Davao del Norte in 1998, its provincial jail is still located within the same jailing compound within the provincial Capitol complex of Davao del Norte in Brgy. Mankilam, Tagum City.

The provincial jail of Compostela Valley located in Brgy. Cabidianan, Nabunturan is not yet completed since it was started to be established four years ago. (Rural Urban News/Cha Monforte)

]]>https://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/70-inmates-of-davao-norte-provl-jail-are-shabu-drug-connected-jail-warden/feed/0ruralurbanewsdavao del norte jail warden marilyn erolonFree movie in Tagum City expanded to cover senior citizens for all movie types- 3D or not https://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/2016/07/28/free-movie-in-tagum-city-expanded-to-cover-senior-citizens-for-all-movie-types-3d-or-not/
https://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/2016/07/28/free-movie-in-tagum-city-expanded-to-cover-senior-citizens-for-all-movie-types-3d-or-not/#respondThu, 28 Jul 2016 08:33:15 +0000http://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/?p=2532Free movie access to modern and fully airconditioned cinemas in malls in Tagum City has been expanded to benefit the much greater senior citizens and for all movie types- three-dimensional (3D) films or not.

Last March 3 the persons with disabilities in the city started enjoying free movie access for once a week every Thursday but only for regular movies, excluding 3D and 2D movies.

Top 1 City Councilor Eva Lorraine Estabillo said Thursday that City Ordinance 749, series of 2016 granting free movie privilege for the city’s senior citizens has been enthusiastically welcomed by cinema operators in Gaisano Mall and the new Robinsons Place of Tagum, which only opened last May 4. Each of the malls has six cinemas.

Estabillo, the main author of the ordinance, said that the expanded measure was approved by the previous 6th City Council which still convened last June 13. Reelected City Mayor Allan Rellon then confirmed it.

She said that under the ordinance senior citizens who are entitled to free movie admission in any movie theater in the city are those who are bonafide residents of Tagum City and who possess senior citizen’s identification cards issued by the mayor through the Office of the Senior Citizen’s Affairs (OSCA).

Free admission is allowed on Tuesdays of each week with a maximum of only 200 senior citizens per cinema.

Each qualified senior citizen can avail of the privilege once a week only. The privilege is non-transferable.

The senior councilor also bared that the memorandum of agreement with theater management in both GMall and Robinsons pursuant to the new ordinance have already been discussed and pre-agreed with.

Estabillo thanked for their enthusiastic support for the elderly sector as well as for the persons with disabilities. (Rural Urban News/Cha Monforte)

]]>https://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/2016/07/28/free-movie-in-tagum-city-expanded-to-cover-senior-citizens-for-all-movie-types-3d-or-not/feed/0ruralurbanewsevaLGBT’s PRIDE FESTIVAL ORDINANCE IN TAGUM APPROVED, PUSHED BY AN EVAhttps://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/2016/07/27/lgbts-pride-festival-ordinance-in-tagum-approved-pushed-by-an-eva/
https://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/2016/07/27/lgbts-pride-festival-ordinance-in-tagum-approved-pushed-by-an-eva/#respondWed, 27 Jul 2016 05:32:30 +0000http://ruralurbanews.wordpress.com/?p=2520To ensure to protect the rights of the lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBTs) and to recognize their valuable contributions and services in the society, the ordinance for the holding of a week-long Tagum City Pride Festival each year was approved by the 7th City Council Tuesday morning at the Session Hall, third level of the New City Hall.

Lawyer Councilor Eva Lorraine Estabillo, main author of City Ordinance 771, series of 2016, said that the ordinance declared every 3rd week of July as Tagum City Pride Festival.

She thanked her co-proponent, her brother ABC Federation President Prospero “Popo” Estabillo, Jr. and the rest of the members of the new city council for the historic passage of an unprecedented piece of local legislation that recognized the LGBT community which has been giving their valuable effort and support for the development of Tagum City since time immemorial.

“The laws of LGBTs continue to be oppressed by the iniquitous treatment of society at large, primarily because of misconceptions and ignorance,” she said.

“Sadly, for our democracy. LGBTs are still considered ‘second class’ citizens when they try to exercise the rights to which they are rightfully entitled,” Estabillo added in her rationale for the ordinance.

The ordinance provided creation of steering committee to be headed by the City Mayor and appropriation of half million to one million pesos for its effective implementation. (Rural Urban News/Cha Monforte)